Chavli Amti / Black Eyed Peas Curry

No matter how many side dishes you may have in your repertoire, you are always left wondering when it comes to preparing side dishes for rotis. At least that happens to be true in my case. It becomes even more tough when you do not happen to have any vegetables at hand and all of sudden guests drop by unannounced at your door step. That is exactly what happened last Friday. As we had a 3 day holiday I had emptied the fridge of it contents, discarding the dead and dying planning on stocking it the next day. With no idli batter in the fridge imagine the shock I got when my guests came.

Luckily I had soaked some black eyed peas for making sundal on that day and since the elder one was not well, I had not made the sundal and was able to make a quick side dish with the soaked peas to be had along with the chappathis. It is very simple and uses no fancy ingredients but of those you already have in the pantry. I made it again yesterday on kids request and was able to click it properly this time.

And this dish seemed very apt for the Avant Garde Cookies group as we had elected to cook Maharashtrian Cuisine for this week. I had planned on a rice dish but with guests at home a pot meal was out of question. But instead I ended up adding once more side dish to my repertoire.

Chavli Amti / Black Eyed Peas Curry

Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 15 mins | Serves: 4 – 5

Ingredients:

Black eyed peas/Chavli/Karamani – 1 cup

Onion – 2

Tomato – 1

Curry powder / Garam masala powder – 1 tsp, heaped

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Asafetida – 2 pinch

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Sugar – 1 tsp (optional)

Curry leaf – 1 sprig

Oil – 2 tbsp

Salt – to taste

To be grind to a fine paste:

Onion – 1

Channa dal – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Whole coriander seeds – 1 tsp

Fenugreek – 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Whole dry red chillies – 4 to 5

Grated coconut – 3-4 tbsp

Oil – 1/2 tbsp

Instructions:

1. Soak black eyed peas for 4 to 5 hours or overnight. Discard the water used for soaking and using fresh water pressure cook for 2 whistles. The peas should be cooked but firm and not mushy.

2. Chop onion and tomatoes finely and keep aside.

3. Heat oil in pan and add all the ingredients mentioned for the paste and dry roast till aroma rises over low flame. When cooled down grind to a fine paste using little water and keep aside.

Notes:

1. Make sure that you cook the peas in such a way that they keep their shape.2. You can also add cooked veggies like carrots, potatoes and cauliflowers along with the peas.3. Instead of tomato, you can also add tomato puree.

I have always struggled to make black-eyed peas in different ways. The husband hates the usual masala gravy the way we make rajma. But your version sounds different! Love the addition of coconut in that paste!